


Lost and Recovered

by Pauliestorylover



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Alternate Timelines, Angst, Crossing Timelines, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pauliestorylover/pseuds/Pauliestorylover
Summary: What if Chat Blanc's humanity was a bit more shattered? What if Chat Blanc could only remember that hewantedneededLadybug, but not why? What if when Ladybug was sent to defeat him, she failed?What, then?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Delivering

**Author's Note:**

> Trying a different style.

Bunnix did not believe in any gods. But as she watched yet another Ladybug fight a losing battle with Chat Blanc, she prayed to all the gods and spirits in the world that Ladybug would win this time. She _will_. _This_ time. She _has to_. Better yet, Bunnix prayed that she could do something to help, instead of being a mere powerless bystander, as another young girl fought to protect the fate of the universe.

No such luck. Bunnix watched, heart heavy, as Chat Blanc collected his prize and disintegrated his tenth pair of the Ladybug miraculous. He smiled, his sharp teeth glimmering pure white in the sunlight. Yet, even the pure whiteness of his teeth could not hide the darkness behind his smile. It was _nothing_ like Adrien’s smile—all sunshine and no darkness.

Bunnix closed her eyes as Chat Blanc picked up Marinette’s crumbled form from the floor, mourning her four fallen comrades. Marinette, who once again lost in a hopeless battle against the strongest monster in the world. Adrien, whose humanity had been shattered, leaving behind only his raw bitterness and desires. Tikki, once again blown away in the wind. Even, in the alternate timelines, her power has been waning because of what transpired here. Plagg, who has been trapped in his miraculous ever since Chat Noir was akumatized, even in alternate timelines.

_The tenth one_ , Bunnix thought, as she added another stroke to her mental tally, _this was the tenth Ladybug to fall._ The hand holding her umbrella tightened, and Bunnix swallowed her rage at Hawkmoth and at the universe. Perhaps, in another timeline, more of Chat Blanc’s humanity would have had remained, and Ladybug would have had an easier time defeating him. She might even have been able to defeat him on her first try. Then, in that timeline, Bunnix would not have to keep a mental tally of how many Ladybugs have been defeated. She would not have to remember every night how many Tikkis have been turned to dust. Bunnix wished more than anything that she could live in that timeline.

_This is so unfair; all Marinette and Adrien wanted were to be happy together; they never asked for this to happen._

_Foolish child,_ the Burrow seemed to laugh back at her, _nothing is fair in this world. No one asks for bad things to happen to them. It is cruel, yes. But it is how the universe works._

Heaving a sigh, Bunnix made her way back to the portal to her time. She could not bear to watch any longer.

Outside, the wind was howling, and Bunnix walked right into a wall of snow and hail as she stepped out of the portal. When she sent the first Ladybug through, it had been summer. Summer. Fall. Winter. The first Ladybug has been defeated for over half a year now.

_Of course. Of_ course _there is a blizzard._ Yet, even amidst the guttering cries of the wind and snow, Bunnix felt strangely comforted. It was as if the universe knew how cruel it was being, and so it sent a companion to rage with her as a slight consolation.

She stumbled back to her small apartment—there was nothing cozy about it, not with the grief and rage in her heart, and released her transformation. Fluff took one look at her, lowered their head, and murmured mournfully, “Kit.”

At that, the dam was broken, and all the tears she had been holding back came pouring out. Alix trembled, “It hurts.”

Fluff looked at her, with eyes as old as time and sorrow as wide as the universe, “I know.”

“It’s so unfair.”

Fluff sighed and gently wiped a tear from her face with their hands, “I know.”

Alix closed her eyes, “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”

Fluff stilled. They tilted her head until she was looking at them directly, “Kit. You are strong. This burden is great, but you can bear it. You can. You will. You _must_. For the sake of your friends, and for the sake of the universe. It hurts, and it is unfair, but it will hurt more if you forsake your responsibility.”

Alix sniffed. When she had accepted the Rabbit miraculous, she knew of the responsibility that came with it. Yet, she had never expected to see her friend turn into a monster who tore apart the very fabric of reality. She had never expected to send her other friend to be defeated by said monster again and again. She had never expected the things she saw and knew and _did_ in the name of protection to _ache_ so much.

“…I know.”

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she will find another Ladybug from another timeline. There was a timeline where Hawkmoth was not Adrien’s father. Ladybug and Chat Noir had defeated him in their early twenties, and had gotten married riding the high of victory. It appeared to be by far the happiest timeline for the couple, and Alix hated herself for even _thinking_ of ripping Ladybug from it. But she will. She should. She _must_.

Alix picked herself up and prepared herself for bed. Tomorrow, she will deliver yet another Ladybug to Chat Blanc, and that Ladybug will defeat Chat Blanc for once and for all. For the sake of her future, for the sake of her husband, for the sake of the universe, she can defeat him. She will. She _must_.


	2. Collecting

The first Ladybug came shortly after he destroyed Paris. He had been lamenting on his Lady that he has lost forever, and then she came—a princess who stepped out of a portal to answer his prayers.

Marinette. His Lady. His princess.

“Chat,” she said, and her voice was the sweetest sound he ever heard, “this isn’t you.”

He didn’t understand. _Of course_ this was him—he was ~~Adrien~~ ~~Chat Noir~~ Marinette’s lover. He didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the girl in front of him. He thought he had lost her forever, but she was back now. They would be together again, and nothing else would ever matter.

He reached out to grab her, to hug her, to make sure she would never disappear in a grey cloud of dust. “M’lady, I—”

He tripped.

Marinette’s yo-yo wrapped against him. “Chat Noir. You’re gonna be okay. I’ll de-evilise your akuma and everything’s gonna go back to normal.”

She would…de-evilise him? He frowned—why would she take away a part of himself? Perhaps…the miraculous. He vaguely remembered a tall figure in purple, an order for him to take his Lady’s miraculous to save…someone.

That was it. The miraculous corrupted his Lady, made her sad and angry at him, not at all like the kind and cheerful person Marinette was.

Now, if only he could destroy the miraculous. Only then, could his Lady truly return to him.

Marinette had snapped his tail in half by now, and she was reaching for his bell. He snarled—she was not his Lady, not now, not yet—and destroyed the yo-yo with a blinding burst of white light.

Marinette shrieked, and his heart shrieked with her. He had hurt his Lady, but it was necessary. Anything would be necessary for his Lady to be with him again. She would forgive him when he freed her from the miraculous’s corruption.

He grabbed her earlobes while she blinked and bled tears, carefully tearing them of his Lady. With another flash of light, the miraculous was not more.

His Lady was his.

* * *

The second one came while he was hunting for rations. His Lady had refused his offers of fresh fish and cheese, as well as all of the soggy cakes he dug out from the wreckage. All she did was stare silently out of the tilted hotel room he placed her in.

It didn’t make sense. He had destroyed the source of her corruption, but Marinette was still different. She should be all smiles and warm hugs, not this…cold indifference.

He was pondering this when the second Ladybug dropped down in front of him.

This Marinette was older, taller. Her dark blue hair hung in a short braid, and there were entire areas of her suit in black instead of the usual red-with-black-spots pattern, but it was still unmistakably his Lady.

This time, the novelty at seeing his Lady wore off quickly, but the joy of finding another Marinette did not. Who cared where she came from? Who cared that he already had a Marinette waiting for him to find something she wanted to eat? He ~~wanted~~ _needed_ Marinette, and perhaps this Marinette would not behave as strangely as the last.

A foreign phrase popped into his mind, “the more the merrier.” He had no idea where it came from, but he supposed it was true enough.

When he gently dragged the older Marinette—still kicking and fighting despite having her corruption already removed—into the hotel room, the younger Marinette sprang from her seat to help her older clone. She snarled and spat curses at him—it broke his heart to see her so hostile—but she did not attack him like the first few days after they had fought.

He shrugged. He supposed it was better that apathy.

* * *

Then came the third, then the fourth, then the fifth. He stopped wondering where his Ladies were coming from, or who was sending them, only focusing on destroying their corruption and adding them to his collection. With each Marinette collected, the hotel room became smaller and smaller. He had to move his Ladies to a half-submerged mansion nearby. The mansion brought a familiar bittersweet taste to his mouth, but it was by far the best building in the area.

For his Ladies, he could stand the bittersweetness.

Of course, the five Marinettes tried to attack him while they were relocating, like they sometimes liked to do when he visited. He hoped the mansion would make them happier and more at ease.

After all, he would do anything for his Ladies—anything, except letting them go.

* * *

The sixth Marinette came a week after the relocation. She was young, with cheeks still full of baby fat and bluebell eyes brimming with fear. She couldn’t have gotten the Ladybug miraculous for more than a few days, if the way she trembled as she fought was any indication.

Still, this Marinette fought as valiantly as the others. His heart wept with her when he destroyed the miraculous, and he hoped the other Marinettes could care for her in a way that he could not.

That night, as he bounded across the sunken buildings towards the mansion, his young Lady cried herself to sleep in his arms.

* * *

The seventh and the eighth were collected without incidents. It was the ninth who surprised him the most.

This Marinette appeared behind him, but as he turned to see the familiar sight of an angry Marinette, he realized his Lady was sitting in a chair.

No, not a chair. A _wheelchair_.

She wore sunglasses and a leather harness, her suit dotted with brown circles instead of black.

It was a strange style, but his Lady looked good in anything.

Marinette’s smile was brittle and exhausted, “Surrender. Now.”

“No.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

His Lady disappeared in a circle of light.

His Lady was _gone_.

Before he could cry out, he found himself tied up with the yo-yo. His Lady’s voice echoed from behind, “It’s over. I’m bringing you home.”

Home? But this wasteland _was_ home. Home was the eight Marinettes waiting in the mansion, even if they still wouldn’t talk to him, for whatever reason. Home was where this Marinette should be.

He ~~wouldn’t~~ couldn’t let her take him away.

The yo-yo was wrapped around his arms, but he could still rotate his hands until they faced the strings. White light built in his palms, and the yo-yo was no more.

He brought another Marinette home, after that.

* * *

Then came the tenth, and the eleventh, and the twelfth.

Briefly, he wondered how many Marinettes it would take for whoever sending them to get tired of their little game. But he didn’t mind. He had an eternity to wait, and an eternity with his Ladies was a short eternity.

He smiled, and waited for the next Marinette to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chat Blanc is an unreliable narrator. The first Ladybug tripped him while he was too busy ogling at her. Then his destruction blast was so bright that it temporarily blinded the first Ladybug since she was standing so close.
> 
> In case you didn’t figure it out, the ninth Ladybug was using the Horse miraculous.


End file.
